Marjolein, what exactly is Knowledge Pact MBO Brabant and what do you do?
Knowledge Pact MBO Brabant is a collaboration between eight MBO institutions in the province of North Brabant. We have joined forces to work together on a number of themes. Themes such as lifelong development, connecting education to the labor market and innovation & expertise. Knowledge Pact MBO Brabant connects, shares knowledge and contributes to the matching of supply and demand on the labor market through a collaboration of business, government and MBO institutions. We find it important to work together on innovation. This is much smarter and more efficient than having all participants invent the wheel themselves.

What is your dot on the horizon?
Within the MBO Knowledge Pact we have been working together on innovative projects in the province of Brabant for over ten years. That is of course very positive, but we want to work less on projects and more on continuous collaboration on themes. Make and maintain connections. Not only between MBO institutions, but also with colleges and universities. And that is badly needed. We face many social challenges, such as a tight labor market. By working together more intelligently, we can respond better to these challenges.

In what way are you connected to MindLabs?
MindLabs believes very much in the power of collaboration. This is something we also believe in fiercely. If you were to make a matrix of what Mindlabs does, you'll see that themes like healthcare, data and AI come up emphatically. Those themes are also strongly reflected within our Knowledge Pact. Therefore, I see many opportunities to shape and expand our collaboration. We want to add knowledge ourselves, but of course we also want to learn from others.

How long have you been a member of the MindLabs family?
Not so long yet, since last May. But our institutions ROC and SintLucas have been affiliated with MindLabs for some time.

In that collaboration, what is the holy grail as far as you are concerned?
The location alone! The MindLabs building is a fantastic location. There is a very nice vibe there. Our goal is to position the mbo stronger and to work even better with Fontys and Tilburg University, for example. In some areas, such as undermining; the use of legal companies and services for illegal activities, and education, we have already developed a lot of knowledge and can certainly teach the colleges and universities something. But vice versa, this will certainly happen as well. Working well together with other MindLabs parties and running great projects and pilots together; that is what we are all about.

What has it already brought you?
Quite a lot, and this while we have only just started. We have already had exploratory conversations with other members of the ecosystem about how we can better help each other strategically. We are now working out those conversations. Surely that's a great harvest, after a month!